New Year 7 Student Handbook 2024-25

Upcoming dates Year 7

School day timings

Tutor Groups

New JESS Students

Language Selection

Digital information

Mathematics equipment

Uniform and dress code

Co-Curricular Clubs

Instrumental music lessons

The House system

JESS Canteen

School bus service

Parent communications

Parent Portal

JESS Sports

Calendar of school events

Adding JESS calendar to your mobile device

Apple IOS users

Instrumental lessons calendar

Absence reporting

Oasis - Learning support

FAQ by current Year 7 Students

Key points of contacts

Contacting

Administration

Welcome!

A warm welcome to all new students and families joining our JESS Community. We are excited to get to know your child and to support them on the exciting journey ahead! The transition process is comprehensive and we offer support every step of the way.

Inside this student guide you will find information on the most common questions we receive. Please do get in touch if you have any questions or open the links throughout the booklet for further information.

We understand that beginning a new school can be daunting for some students (and parents). Rest assured; we have a dedicated transition programme to ensure that all students feel at home as quickly as possible. Students will experience a host of team building days and experiences to ensure they get to know the school and their new classmates.

We look forward to meeting you in person

Kind regards,

The JESS Pastoral Team

Educating to make a difference in the

Upcoming Dates for Year 6 – 7

Upcoming dates for Year 6 – 7

Below are the key dates for the coming months. Additional support will also be offered by different teams, including our Inclusion department (Oasis) and the counselling team.

Event/Information

External Students Taster Day

Please complete form HERE to register attendance.

External parents meeting and short tour around the school.

Please complete form HERE to register attendance.

Parents ‘The Next Steps’ welcome evening Lecture Theatre JESS Arabian Ranches This is for all new parents Please sign up using this FORM

Parent Support Cafe “Supporting your Child with Moving to Secondary School ” Talk delivered by Romena Toki from Sage Clinic

Year 6-7 Transition Day ‘Moving on up’

Further information on what format this will take will be sent nearer the date

Date

Wednesday May 15th 8:30 am – 2:30pm.

Wednesday May 15th 4:00pm - 5:00pm Library

Tuesday June 4th 5:00pm Library

DATE TBC

Details to follow

Wednesday July 3rd 8:30 am – 2:00pm

Year 7 Induction Day at JESS Arabian Ranches

First day of school

Friday August 23rd 8:00 am – 12:00pm

Monday August 26th at 7:40am

School Day Timings

School Day Timings

JESS Secondary school day timings are as below Co-curricular activities vary and will be after the school day finishes.

Drop-off School Starts School Finishes

Monday - Thursday 7.20 - 7.40am 7.40am 3.20pm Friday 7 20 - 7 40am 7 40am 12 00pm

Tutor Groups

Tutor Groups

We place belonging and care at the heart of all our decisions and therefore seek to place students in classes based upon how they learn, work and interact together within a school setting. This may differ to the friendship groups your child may socialise within and outside school. The development of our student’s social and emotional skills is also seen as paramount. Enabling children the opportunity to widen their circle of friends, within new classes, supports this crucial element of development.

Staff meet to discuss and structure potential tutor groups to ensure that they are equally well balanced, based on the following areas of consideration:

Gender

Academic ability

Learning styles

Children who require learning support

Productive/unproductive learning relationships and interactions within the classroom

Language selection to ensure balanced numbers in MFL classes

Balance of number of Arabic A and Arabic B students for timetabling purposes

By aiming for an equal spread of the above areas within each tutor group, we aim to create well-balanced classes with the best learning climate for all students.

Experience has shown that this is a successful and beneficial process. A great deal of time, effort, discussion, observation and consideration goes into creating the tutor groups.

New JESS Students

New JESS Students

Every year we welcome new students to JESS. On Wednesday May 15th, all external students will have the opportunity to experience a day in the secondary school

They will meet the Head of Year and some of the Year 7 team, be given a tour of the site, experience lessons, meet members of the teaching staff and experience lunch at the JESS Diner.

Students may bring a packed lunch or buy food from the JESS Diner using cash. Please ensure your child has approximately 30AED This will cover a snack and main meal

External Students Taster Day

Please complete form HERE to register attendance. This will be held on Wednesday May 15th, 8:30 am – 2:30pm

External parents meeting

All new parents are invited to attend a short tour followed by an informal meeting on Wednesday May 15th at 4pm Please complete form HERE

Language Selection

Language Selection

Students at JESS secondary have the opportunity to study either French or Spanish This is in addition to Arabic. If your child is already proficient in French or Spanish, they will be required to select the other language option.

Please use the form HERE to register your selection.

All selections will need to be submitted by Monday May 13th. If we do not hear from you by this date, your child may not be allocated their chosen language.

Digital Information

Digital Information

All information is attached HERE

Please read through this carefully for instructions on ordering and requirements. Any questions or queries please email academicsec@jess.sch.ae

Mathematics Equipment

Mathematics equipment

All students are required to have a calculator for their mathematics lessons. The scientific calculator helps students to access the curriculum content for KS3 and beyond. It is an extremely powerful tool, which allows for constructing mathematical tables and the solving of intricate and complicated equations The functionality of Casio’s latest scientific calculator will also be of huge benefit to their understanding of the more complex material now being introduced at IGCSE level

The Casio fx-991CW Classwiz can be purchased at several outlets around Dubai or online for prices ranging between AED94 - 110. A picture of the calculator can be seen below:

Uniform and Dress Code

Uniform and Dress Code

We pride ourselves on the appearance of all those who attend JESS. The school implements a strict dress code from Year 7 thorough to Sixth form

All pupils are encouraged to take care of their personal appearance and to comply with the school code.

Below are our general dress code guidelines

Uniform Requirements leaflet. Click here.

JESS Sportswear and swimwear requirements. Click here.

General Dress Code guidelines

Hair Hair below the shoulder must be tied back. No extreme cuts or unnatural hair colour

Jewellery A watch and one pair of plain, small stud earrings (silver or gold) is allowed

Shoes

School Bags

School shoes should be black (matt) leather with a solid heel of less than 4cm Please note that ballerina style pumps and black trainers are not acceptable. Please note that students arriving at school in sports named footwear will be asked to purchase the correct footwear. This will then be an additional expense.

Students may bring a rucksack style bag to school to carry their equipment for the day. This is then left in their locker.

Sports Teams

PE Kit

If selected for a sports team, pupils are expected to purchase JESS team kits, this applies to those chosen for football, rugby, netball and athletics teams. All kit is available to purchase online from J20 Sports. Please do not purchase until directed by the team coach.

Students have two Games sessions a week – on both days students can wear their PE/Games kit for the duration of the school day It is compulsory for all students to purchase a hoodie for PE / games kit They are unable to wear the hoodie with their school uniform.

Co-Curricular Clubs

Co-Curricular Clubs

A timetable of secondary clubs is published at the start of every term. Students and Parents will be able to access this information through the ECA channel on Microsoft Teams, SOCS and the Parent Portal

Students will be shown the selection available in their tutor groups and they will have the opportunity to discuss and ask questions about them before they go live, which is when the sign-up is completed.

Instrumental Music Lessons

Instrumental Music Lessons

To view your child’s timetabled music lessons, click on Calendar:

Fig. 2 - Change the view of this week:

Fig. 3 - Music lessons are displayed:

Fig.1

The House System

House competitions and house points are an integral part of school life.

All students are allocated one of four houses. You will be informed of your house shortly Our houses are Tahr (black), Oryx (white), Panthera (red) and Falco (green).

House t-shirts are worn several times a year; in-school competitions, Mindbeat Days, Bonanza Days and House Events

They are compulsory to purchase; this can be done online from our PE kit supplier J20 Sports once students start at JESS.

JESS Sportswear and swimwear requirements Click here

Ben’s Farmhouse

Ben’s Farmhouse

Our canteen provider is Ben’s Farmhouse. Ben’s Farmhouse meals are fresh and will be prepared daily on-site. Influenced by the rich diversity and innovations in fresh, local farm-grown produce in the UAE, Ben’s Farmhouse hope to inspire people to enjoy healthier eating, support local producers and help build food security for the UAE.

The emphasis is on nutritious meals with daily vegetarian and non-vegetarian options as well as sandwiches, salads, wraps, and healthy snacks. JESS remains a 100% nut free school. JESS provides Ben’s Farmhouse with a list of students who have registered allergies with the Health Office.

JESS highly recommends that parents also register any allergens on their child’s Ben’s Farmhouse account (via Account Name/Settings/Allergens). If the parents would like to contact Ben’s Farmhouse regarding any food related concerns, they can send an email to info@bensfarmhouse.com.

Ben’s Farmhouse cont...

How to create an account

JESS operates as a cashless school. You will need to create an account to order meals and add credit to your child’s Student ID card. Students use their ID card to purchase food in the canteen. New JESS students are permitted to use cash until they receive their Student ID card (which normally takes 7 to 10 days as we use the school photograph taken on their first day to create their ID badge) or alternatively you can order daily or meal plan online.

To create an account, please click on this LINK which provides detailed guides including video tutorials and a small brief from Ben's Farmhouse Also, attached is the Registration Guide (if you prefer a hard copy). To register, you will need the following information:

Community Name: JESS Dubai

Student ID: please email academicsec@jess sch ae to provide you with this ID

Once you create an account for your child you will automatically be asked to activate by card by adding a card or wristband. Please select:

1. Step 11 – select Add a card or wristband (we do not do wristbands at JESS)

2. Step 12 – select School ID

3 Step 13 – enter Student ID and select Pair

This step is not necessary for Primary students because parents will be ordering and paying for meals online only.

Important Information

You will have the option to order daily, a meal plan (for a whole term), or alternatively add credit to your child’s account and they can purchase from the canteen when they like.

Ben’s Farmhouse cont...

Daily meals must be ordered by 3pm on the day prior. Cancellations of any orders must be sent to: info@bensfarmhouse.com

Refunds will be provided only if the cancellation is received by 8am (on the day the food is ordered for)

Monitoring Purchases

There is a dashboard for each child registered which will show you the spending and purchases made by that child (viewable daily or monthly)

Daily Orders

Parents can order daily for snacks and meals. When ordering daily options please state if you would like it delivered at morning break (AM) or for Lunch (as per example below).

Troubleshooting for Spare App

For any inquiries, parents can submit a support ticket through the app or send an email to support@paywithspare.com.

School Bus Service

School Bus Service

A bus service managed by JESS for Secondary students operates between JESS Jumeirah and JESS Arabian Ranches, as well as other designated surrounding areas, at both the start and end of the school day.

If you would like to sign up for the bus service please contact academicsec@jess.sch.ae

ParentCommunications

Our main method of communicating with parents is through our Parent Portal and Parent app which take information from our data management system, iSAMS. Much of the data is personalised to year groups, in this way you only see documents and files that are relevant to your child (children’s) year group, their timetables as well as dates and information; importantly, this is the only method that we use to share reports and assessment results.

04 | JESS SCHOOL

Parent Portal: this link to our Parent Portal goes straight to the login, so it’s a good idea to bookmark this for future reference.

You can also access the parent portal at the bottom of the JESS website home page/or via the Keylinks on the right-hand side of the school website.

The home page of the portal looks like this:

Parent Portal

If your family hasn’t already got an activated account, you should have received a personal registration number and password from the registrar within your confirmation email to enable you to activate your portal and app account This should initially be completed on the browserbased portal

Parent Portal APP: to access our app you need to download the iSAMS parent app from your usual app store. When prompted input the JESS school code which is JDXB, and the username and password which you decided upon when you initially created your portal account.

Please note that it is only when your child actually starts school and they are officially admitted to JESS that you will be able to see anything directly related to them on the portal. Until then you might not have any children associated with your portal account

If you do not have the activation code or if you have any problems accessing the portal/app, please email parentportal@jess sch ae or contact your school reception for help or guidance

Adding Multiple schools on the iSAMS /Parent Portal App:

As parents, we appreciate you may have student attending several different chools in Dubai If these schools are using iSAMS and the iSAMS app for their parent communications, there is a simple way to have all the school communications coming through one app

Please follow the instructions below to set up multiple schools on your iSAMS app

PLEASE NOTE: you will need the school code for iSAMS from each school to complete this process.

Our guide to JESS Sports and Swimwear has details of all the kit needed at JESS. Click here

JESS Sports also have their own website where they share information on sports fixtures, teams, opponents and results – https://www.jessranchessport.com

This website can be accessed in a variety of ways:

1 Parent Portal – click on the JESS SPORT TAB

2 Parent Portal app – at the bottom of the School Life tab

JESS Sports cont.

3 Sports Website on Mobile – search for the website https://www jessranchessport com on a mobile device, not from an app store but through your normal web browser and the website recognizes you are on a mobile device and delivers the information in an app-style format, also giving you the option of it sitting as the school icon next to all your other apps.

When you open the site you can go to your options (on a Samsung accessible via the 3 dots in the upper right/hand corner and on an iPhone via the box icon with an arrow coming out of the top just above the home button) and select ‘add to home screen’. Then, the next time you look at your phone, the JESS icon will be sitting amongst your apps and you will be able to access our sports site in one press of the button. The icon looks like this:

The sports site shows fixtures, team sheets, opponents’ locations and results

We suggest you check the app/site regularly to be able to see what’ on for your child’s team

Please email parentportal@jess.sch.ae with any installation issues you may have.

Calendar of School Events

The JESS Arabian Ranches school calendar is on SOCS. SOCS integrates the school calendar, sports fixtures, ECAs and music lessons all in one place for the ease of parents. SOCS provides parents with a personalized timetable for their child/children including events they are involved/registered in

Secondary student timetables are also available, outlining everything your child is doing during the school day in one place

All sign ups and access to your child’s Co-curricular program will also be via SOCS If your child participates in music/peri lessons you will also see their timetable

The JESS Arabian Ranches calendar can be accessed and viewed in three ways:

By adding a weblink app to your mobile device homepage, please follow the attached instructions. Safari is the preferred browser.

Via the School website – https://www jess sch ae Select the Menu option on the top left hand side, links to the JESS Arabian Ranches and JESS Jumeirah calendars are available on the right hand side of the page

Via the online Parent Portal or the iParent app – Links have been added to the School Life area for the JESS Arabian Ranches and JESS Jumeirah Calendars

How to activate SOCS

To access the SOCS site parents need to activate an account – refer to this user guide (please use a PC if the options on your mobile screen are not aligned).

Parents need to search for Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS Arabian Ranches), then select the Login Type – Parent.

When activating your Parent SOCS account, use the same email address used for all school correspondence Please check your junk inbox if you do not receive the activation email when registering

If you incur any problems downloading or accessing the calendar, please contact parenthelpdesk@jess sch ae

Adding JESS Calendar to your mobile device

Android users

Open the following link in your web browser on your mobile device to access the JESS School Calendars:

JESS Arabian Ranches school calendar – https://socs-ar.jess.sch.ae

To save to your device homepage, like an app, select the 3 dots on the top right of the page as indicated below in red (fig 1)

Select Add to Home screen (fig 2)

The web pages will then be available on your device home screen in the same way app appears (fig 3).

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Apple IOS Users

Open the following link in your web browser on your mobile device to access the JESS School calendars:

JESS Arabian Ranches School Calendar – https://socs-ar.jess.sch.ae

To save to your device homepage like an app, select the share icon as indicated below in red(fig 1)

Select Add to Home screen (fig 2)

A window will then appear showing the name, icon and URL (tap the name if you would like to edit it). Tap Add and the web page will then be available on your device home screen in the same way apps appear (fig 3)

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Instrumental Lessons - Calendar

The JESS Music Department organises individual and group instrumental lessons for a variety of instruments, guitar – classical and electric, clarinet, saxophone, flute, voice, trumpet, piano, violin, drums and cello.

Lessons are charged at both individual and group rates and are 30 minutes long. For information relating to the instrumental programme, please contact peri@jess.sch.ae

Absence Reporting

All absences must be reported on a daily basis.

For an absence that is not pre-arranged, such as an illness or medical appointment, you must report it before 7.15am that morning via the 'Absence' tab on the portal or the link within the app at the bottom of the School Life tab, where you will directed to an online form. It is also available here: illness and medical appointment report, online form

Exceptional Leave

To make a request for exceptional leave, please communicate this as far in advance as possible This request can again be made online within the same form mentioned above in a pathway called Exceptional Leave

The online form is available directly via this link: Exceptional leave request online form

Oasis Learning Support

Some students who have identified learning differences (such as Dyslexia, Autism and ADHD) receive extra support from the Oasis team.

The Oasis team supports in some lessons with additional adults in the room (usually English and Maths) and also provides support sessions during prep lessons.

Some students also have additional accommodations for their tests and exams, and may sit their exams in the Oasis You will be aware if your child has this support already in their primary school. If you are coming from an external primary school please make sure you let us know of any needs and/or support that your child has.

Sometimes, teachers will refer students to the Oasis department if they have concerns about potential learning barriers Please do not be alarmed if one of the team reaches out to you – we always come from a place of care and support

If you would like to contact one of the Oasis team you can reach out to Miss Zoe Winslade or Mr Stephen Guing, who oversee the Key Stage 3 Oasis provision. Alternatively you may contact Mrs. Beth Sargeant who is the Head of Inclusion for JESS Secondary.

Key Points of Contact

Key Points of Contact

Your child will be assigned a tutor on the Transitions Day. From that point they will be your first point of contact. You will receive an introductory email from them shortly afterwards. At the start of the academic year you will also have the opportunity to meet them on a one to one basis. This information will be shared with you at the start of September.

Each year group is assigned an Assistant Head of Year and a Head of Year. The Head of Year for Year 7 will be Mr. Brendan Reilly. The pastoral team will work closely to support your child and you through the transition process. Finally, the Deputy Head responsible for Years 7-11 is Bryony Lynch, and the Assistant Head is Andy Sargeant.

Our secondary school academic secretary is also available to answer any administration questions. academicsec@jess.sch.ae

Head of Year 7

Brendan Reilly breilly@jess.sch.ae

Deputy Head

Bryony Lynch blynch@jess.sch.ae

Assistant Head

Andy Sargeant asargeant@jess.sch.ae

Contacting the School

Contacting the School

It is possible to either email or call the school with any queries you may have

We have one main number to call which is 04-3619019.

Below is the list of key contacts you will need within JESS Secondary.

Head of Year 7

Head of Year 8

Head of Year 9

Head of Year 10

Head of Year 11

Academic Secretary

Brendan Reilly breilly@jess.sch.ae

Tijani Souaisi tsouaissi@jess.sch.ae

Graham Black gblack@jess sch ae

Rhiannon Bowering rbowering@jess.sch.ae

Katie Raybould kraybould@jess sch ae

Suki van den Berg (Year 7 - 9) academicsec@jess.sch.ae

Louise Hughes (Year 10 - 11) academicsec@jess.sch.ae

Administrative Queries

Any administration queries should be forwarded to the relevant member of staff and below are the main generic areas and the relevant email.

Click on the links below to obtain the email addresses.

Central Admin

JESS Secondary

Director PA to Headteacher

Admissions Secondary Admin (inc. Buses)

Accounts

Extra-Curricular Activities

Exams Health Office

Instrumental Music Lessons Oasis Dept

Parent Portal/ App help

Marketing/Website/Press

Parent ID Badges

Photographs for Parent ID badges

Each parent at JESS is provided with an ID badge for when they access the school premises.

If your child does not have a sibling already in the school or you are new to JESS please can you submit a photograph of both parents to the following email: academicsec@jess.sch.ae

These will be available for collection at the start of the next academic year.

Social Media

We have a range of social media channels that are used for different messages.

Follow us

Facebook: JESS Dubai

Instagram: @jessdubaischool

YouTube: @jessdubaischool

Our Website: https://www.jess.sch.ae

Parent Portal: https://www.jess.sch.ae/parent-portal